


Better Take Good (day)Care of Me

by catrasdora



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Daycare, F/F, Mentions of past abuse, Scorpia (She-Ra) is a Good Friend, Single Parent AU, Slow Burn, established scorfuma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-14
Updated: 2020-07-14
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:41:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25267768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/catrasdora/pseuds/catrasdora
Summary: Catra deserves the title of Single Mom of the Year.Adora changes diapers for a living.Both women have a lot of figuring out to do when they reunite after years apart.All happens here at Bright Moon DayCare, welcome!
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Comments: 15
Kudos: 125





	Better Take Good (day)Care of Me

**Author's Note:**

> OK hi!
> 
> i haven't written a fic in so long, so please don't judge the awful plot and writing HAHHA i just needed to get this idea out of my head.
> 
> a few warnings before you start reading:
> 
> there are going to be multiple references to past abuse throughout the work, not explicit, but some descriptions of the awful situation in which adora and catra grew up in.
> 
> FINN IS STILL NON-BINARY, but honestly more like, they have no gender implications? THEY WILL NOT USE GENDERED PRONOUNS: i LOVED noelle's catradora kid, and i wanted to include them in this work instead of creating my own OC :)  
> I AM CISGENDER, i have not experienced the discrimination that enby folks go through, and if i write anything that anyone finds offensive PLEASE PLEASE tell me!! i felt very uncomfortable at the idea of giving a gender to finn just because i am writing them as a baby, and i tried to give an explanation from catra's pov on the topic. once again, i would never want to invalidate or insult ANYONE, so please let me know how i did and if i need to change anything!
> 
> and on that note, please enjoy the fic!! there will be incoming chapters, since this is only the beginning of catra, finn, and adora's adventure :)
> 
> please leave a kudos or comment if u enjoyed or have anything to say! i appreciate any feedback :)

This was Catra’s last resort. 

She wasn’t bringing Finn to the daycare because she _wanted_ to, she was doing it because she _had_ to. She couldn’t rely on Perfuma anymore- the gardener had been Finn’s nanny since before the child could walk, but she just opened her new flower shop, and therefore wouldn’t have time to look over Catra’s precious kitten. No matter how many times Catra begged, Perfuma politely turned down her demands for her to keep babysitting Finn. Money wasn’t a problem, Catra would pay Perfuma _double_ than what she usually charged if she had to. 

Even with the bargain of a larger pay, Perfuma still declined to further help with Catra’s kid. It got to the point where Scorpia had to force her colleague-slash-best-friend out of the house which she shared with her wife, because Catra simply could not let it go. 

Catra hissed at the taller woman.

“Awh, c’mon wild cat! It’ll all be okay!” Ever the optimist, Scorpia was. 

“You don’t know that.” Catra glowered at her best friend, but Scorpia paid no mind to her evil glare. 

“What’s the worst thing that can happen?” Scorpia inquired, wrapping an arm around the petite figure of the woman next to her as she led them towards Catra’s car.

“Are you kidding me, Scorpia? Everything can go wrong!” Catra pulled at her messy, brown hair in frustration, “I don’t know who’s gonna be taking care of Finn! They could be anyone! What if they don’t know how to act when they have their tantrums? What if the caretaker is actually an evil, child-hating maniac who would kidnap Finn to use for their evil, anti-child plans?” Catra felt tears burning behind her eyes.

She knew that these were all unrealistic ideas. The owner of the daycare assured Catra that all of their employees were trained and certified to deal with any problems that would possibly occur, and that they all adored every single child placed into their care. Catra was just afraid. Afraid of handing one of the only good things in her life to someone she doesn’t even know. Afraid that her own kid would like their daycare teachers more than their own mother. What a horrible thought.

Catra ached to see Finn. They were at the office with Lonnie, Kyle, and Rogelio. The trio offered to watch the kid when Catra went to interrogate Perfuma, and although she didn’t completely trust them, she knew that they would keep Finn safe and occupied for the few minutes that Catra was away.

As Scorpia drove back to their building, Catra sat in the passenger's seat brooding over the decision that she was inevitably going to have to make sooner than later. She stayed lost in her thoughts and scowling the whole way up to the thirteenth floor of Horde Enterprises, the floor that she deemed the Fright Zone- just because of the horrific company. 

(She didn’t really hate her coworkers, but she would rather choke and die before admitting that to anyone)

Her frown remained, until she heard the trampling of little feet approaching from the hallway. Before she knew it, a weight was thrown against her knees, nearly causing her to fall. She wasn’t upset, though. She had been waiting for this from the moment she left the Fright Zone that morning.

“Mumma!” A voice squeaked from below her.

Catra couldn’t resist the large grin that spread across her face. Just the simple experience of seeing Finn lifted a weight from her chest that she didn’t even realize was there. She crouched down and lifted the two year old into her arms, giving them a huge squeeze until they were giggling, an infectious sound that had the entire room smiling. 

“Hi Squirt,” Catra nuzzled her kid’s forehead, “Did you behave for Aunt Lonnie?” 

Finn nodded enthusiastically, peeking over at the aforementioned woman, and fluttering their eyelashes a bit. Catra stifled a chuckle at her child’s little crush on her coworker. 

“We helped too!” A male voice piped up. Kyle and Rogelio pouted at the fact that their services were forgotten.

“Ah, yes… right. Finn, can you say thank you to Lonnie, Rogelio, and Kyle?” Finn nodded at Catra’s request and gave a toothy grin to the trio.

“Thank you Lonnie and Roheeyo!” They exclaimed, butchering Rogelio’s name, who just laughed at Finn’s effort.

“Uhm, forgetting someone?” Kyle huffed, giving the child a mock glare. Finn’s eyes twinkled impishly. They were definitely Catra’s kid.

“Nope!” Finn giggling maniacally as Kyle choked back a sob. Catra couldn’t tell if he was faking it or not.

“Okay you big baby, let’s go pack up for the day. I’m starving and you’re making dinner tonight.” Lonnie clapped the shorter man on the shoulder and Rogelio grunted in agreement. The three walked off, Kyle whining all the way.

Catra, Scorpia, and Finn watched the trio leave, and Catra turned to her two companions.

“Say goodbye to Aunt Scorpia, Squirt.” She picked them up and settled them on her hip. Finn blew the buff woman a kiss, and giggled as Scorpia pretended to catch the heart and eat it.

“Goodbye Aunt Scorpee!” Finn said, giving waving as Catra started to walk towards the exit.

“Goodbye kitten!” Scorpia shot finger guns at the toddler, who squealed in response. Catra turned to the women.

“See you tomorrow, Scorpia,” Catra said, “And, uhm… thanks. For earlier. Bringing me to see Perfuma, so, yeah.” Catra wasn’t very good at the whole, being nice thing. But she was working on it! Scorpia had stuck with her through the shitstorm that was the past two and a half years, and Catra was just starting to realize how lucky she was to have a friend like that. Even though Catra was awful to her, Scorpia still stayed.

“My pleasure, Boss!” Scorpia grinned and saluted the shorter woman, who groaned.

“I _told_ you not to call me that!” Catra grumbled and stomped off, but it was obvious she wasn’t truly upset. Scorpia just guffawed and waved to Catra and Finn as they left the Fright Zone, headed home after a long day.

~~~~~

  
  


“C’mon kiddo, we can’t be late!” Catra stood outside the door of her child’s bedroom. Finn insisted that they would dress themselves for their first day at their new daycare. The toddler already needed help putting their shorts and socks on, and Catra was just waiting for the shoes. She sighed when she heard little grunts of struggle, and entered the bedroom. 

Finn was glowering at the light up Sketchers in front of them, one hanging off of their foot and the other across the floor, as if it had been thrown. 

“Need help, Finn?” Catra reached down to grab the discarded shoe and sat next to the child. The child huffed but didn’t resist their mother as she placed their legs on top of hers and strapped the velcro on. Even though the two had a tight schedule, Catra couldn’t help but take the time to stroke through Finn’s hair, caressing them and smiling when they leaned their head into her hand.

—

Catra cherished Finn more than anything in the world. It hadn’t been easy raising the kid. At nineteen, she believed she wasn’t ready to raise a child, and wasn't good enough to take care of a human being by herself. Her childhood did nothing to help that. How could she be a good mother if she never had one herself? How could she teach her kid the life lessons that she never learned? Catra was still a teenager, and only knew the feeling of abandonment. No one cared for her. She was left alone, penniless, and pregnant.

She had decided that she wasn’t going to keep the child. She would wait out the pregnancy, and then give the baby to someone who actually knew how to take care of another human being. Plenty of women become surrogates, there wasn’t a problem with that, right?

When the day came, Catra went into the hospital alone. She screamed and cried as she pushed and pushed. The pain was so agonizing, Catra felt like she was going to die. It felt like hours had passed once she had finally given birth. Tears continued to stream down her face as the nurse handed her the bundle of blankets.

Catra brushed back the fabric that was hiding the baby, and suddenly she stopped breathing. The newborn was red and wrinkly, but Catra’s whole body filled with warmth. She couldn’t even remember the last five hours of pure pain that she endured. Seeing the life she just brought into the world changed everything. In that moment, she knew she could never let something as precious as this child go. All thoughts of giving the baby away fled her mind as she stared at the squirming creature in her hands. Everything around her just faded away. All she could see and think of was her child.

“Ma’am?” A voice startled her out of her trance and her head snapped up, glaring at the nurse who interrupted her moment with her baby. The nurse winced at Catra’s expression and cleared his throat before continuing.

“What would you like to name him?” He asked, holding up the piece of paper in which he was writing down the information about the newborn.

Catra had thought long and hard about that one question. She didn’t have any family influence, no name that was passed through generations. Where does one find inspiration for a name? The simple task of finding a name plagued her through the entire ten or so months of being pregnant.

“Finn.” The name just slipped out. Had she considered it? She didn’t even know. Catra just looked at the baby and decided that he would be Finn. The nurse smiled and wrote the name down, before stepping outside to allow the two some privacy.

After that, things changed forever. Catra now had a reason to live, to change and be a better person. She met Perfuma and Scorpia, the latter helping her find employment, while the former helped take care of the child. Things weren’t easy, but they were slowly getting better. Catra still had bad days, where she was suffocating from her past, stuck under Weaver’s mind games. The hopelessness she felt while living under that woman’s roof came back. Memories of forced solidation and verbal abuse plagued her. Memories of... no. But she wasn’t alone anymore. She had Finn, who brought happiness back into her life. She had Scorpia and Perfuma, the first people who she ever considered to be her friends. Hell, she even had her coworkers- Lonnie, Rogelio, and Kyle. Finally, she had people who cared about her. 

She was especially grateful for them while she raised Finn. It wasn’t easy, especially with her own past. Perfuma taught her simple things, like how to correctly swaddle the baby to sleep, and how to make the perfect formula. Scorpia helped Catra settle the baby down during a tantrum, and how to train him to walk. Honestly, Catra didn’t know if she would be able to raise Finn without the help provided by the married couple. 

When Finn was about ten months old, Catra decided to raise her child without any labels being forced upon them. After weeks of thinking, the mother decided to forgo gendered pronouns, she would raise her child without gender until they could make the decision by themself. She knew it was different, and that her decision would be frowned upon by other parents, but she refused to force anything upon Finn. She lived her entire life being dictated what to do and how to be, and she never wanted her child to feel like she did. 

Her friends took the news extremely well. Perfuma was eager to buy all types of clothing for the baby, and she declared that Finn would be the most fashionable child in Etheria. Scorpia was enthusiastic as well, she accepted the news seconds after Catra told them, and vowed to protect Finn from any backlash forced upon them. But not everyone was as accepting as her friends were. It was the small incidents that bothered her the most. There was the time where she was walking to the park, Finn in their carriage, when they were stopped by an elderly woman passing by. The woman bent down and smiled at the baby, who cooed back. Catra had smiled, noting how nice it was to have little moments like this. 

“How cute!” The old lady noted, “How old is he?” Catra winced at the use of the pronoun, but it was fine. No one would know at first glance that the child was not using gendered pronouns. Catra couldn’t blame the woman for her question, this certainly was not something normal. 

“ _They_ are eighteen months,” Catra smiled, nervous as she indirectly corrected the woman. “two years in October!” Catra couldn’t believe how fast time had passed. The woman’s eyes clouded with confusion. 

“I- Excuse me, but did you call him… _they_?” Catra tried not to physically wince. She forced herself to keep her smile and took a deep breath. 

“I did, actually,” The woman’s deepening frown made Catra’s heart sink. “I chose to not force gender onto my child so early, I want them to identify how they choose, and when they’re old enough they can decide what they want to go by.” Catra explained, trying her hardest to get her point across. 

“I know that it may seem unconventional to you, but I believe it’s the right thing to do for my child.” Catra finished, toying with the straps on Finn’s carriage. 

“That’s absurd!” The old woman exclaimed. “How can you do such a thing to your own child, raising him as something he isn’t.”

How dare she say that to Catra’s face. 

“This is going to ruin his life, you know. It just isn’t right to force this… this _lifestyle_ onto a child before he has even learned to talk!” The woman had her hands on her hips at this point. She was literally lecturing the mother in the middle of the street. 

“I’m sorry Ma’am, but I don’t believe you have any right to tell me how to parent my own child.” Catra said slowly, biting down her anger which was quickly rising as the woman continued to talk. 

_“Deep breaths, Catra. Whenever you feel that poisonous emotion starting to infect your garden, just start to breathe. Oxygen is the key!”_

Perfuma’s voice piped up in Catra’s head. Catra had gotten better at controlling her emotions, ever since Perfuma started counseling her over a year ago. 

“I have three children of my own, young lady, I know full well how to properly raise children. You, however, seem a bit… immature to be raising a child. Perhaps that’s why you’re teaching him such bizarre ideas.” The woman looked down at Catra condescendingly. 

Catra’s chest filled with rage. Who is this woman, this random _hag_ , insulting Catra? Who does she think she is? The urge to reach out and let her claw-like fingernails do some damage was hard to resist. Catra’s hands tightened around the bar-handle of the carriage, her knuckles turning white from strain. The only thing holding her back was Finn, who was gurgling and playing with their feet, completely unaware of the situation happening right above them. Catra closed her eyes and took one more extremely deep breath before facing the woman. 

“How dare you. I just- _you_ lady, are _so_ lucky that I go to therapy for this shit. Times have changed, I’m not going to force myself or my child to conform to what you believe is tradition. My maturity to raise the child who I carried for ten months, is also none of your concern. Finn is happy and healthy, that’s all that matters,” Catra refused to let the older woman get a word in. 

“Now, I’m going to go before I start to lose my patience, so goodbye, and have a _wonderful_ day.” Catra sneered before pushing the carriage away, and stalking away, eager to get away from the situation. 

When recounting the incident to Scorpia and Perfuma, the latter was thrilled to hear how Catra dealt with the situation. 

“Oh, I am just SO glad that you used your techniques, Catra!” The floral woman exclaimed, clapping her hands together with excitement. “This is progress! Now I think that if you joined my drum circle, that-”

“Nope!” Catra interrupted. “I’m not sinking that low, flower-girl.” Perfuma pouted, but it seemed like she had already anticipated that answer. 

“The drum circle is actually pretty fun!” Scorpia piped up from a few feet away, where she was cycling Finn’s feet around as they giggled and flailed their arms. “I always feel so much calmer after, and OOH! Frosta brings donuts and-” 

“Scorpia…” Catra interrupted the larger woman, who blushed and scratched the back of her neck. 

“Oops…” Catra rolled her eyes at her best friend’s silliness, but she couldn’t hide the fondness she had for the muscular woman. 

Catra couldn’t lie and say she hadn’t considered joining one of Perfuma’s Sunday morning drum circles, but she would never admit such a thing to the woman. 

—

Now, as she buttoned up the now sobbing Finn’s jacket and paraded them out of the front door, Catra kind of wished she had taken up one of Perfuma’s multiple offers for her mediation classes. She couldn’t hear her own thoughts over the wails of the nearly two year old. 

“Hey Squirt, you gotta calm down, okay?” She chided as she buckled them into their carseat. “You don’t wanna start your day sad!” Catra caressed the child, stroking their face in the pattern that she had learned would (mostly) successfully calm down the toddler. Finn slowly calmed down, their labored breaths smoothing out into rhythm of small huffs. 

Catra smiled and patted Finn’s head before closing the car door and entering the car herself, and drove off to Bright Moon DayCare. 

It didn’t take long to get to the building where the daycare was located. It was large, and Catra scoffed at the giant pink and purple “Bright Moon DayCare” sign, donned with lights and sparkles. 

_I can’t believe I’m bringing my kid here_ , Catra thought grumpily. 

Sighing, Catra gently removed Finn from their carseat and maneuvered them onto her hip. She grabbed Finn’s diaper bag and locked the car, before venturing inside. 

She was greeted by even more pink and purple, and her jaw dropped in awe as she took in the high ceilings and golden drapes. 

“Good morning!” A voice interrupted Catra’s trance, “I haven’t seen you before, are you a new recruit?” The voice was annoyingly peppy, and Catra turned to inspect the unfamiliar presence. 

The man was taller than Catra, although that wasn’t a tough act to beat. His dark brown skin stood out against his white and gold… crop top? There was quite a distinguishable gap between the bottom of his top and the beginning of his tight jeans. Did this place have a dress code? On his back was not one, but two children, clinging onto his neck- but the man didn’t seem to notice. 

“Um… yeah this is Finn’s first day,” Catra managed to get out, “I talked to Glimmer the other day?” She looked around, unable to spot another woman who could be Glimmer. 

“Oh!” Bow exclaimed, startling both Catra and Finn. “You must be Catra! You can follow me!” He said excitedly, removing the children and placing them on a playmat before gesturing for Catra to follow him across the room. They entered an office, which seemed a bit too fancy to be a side room of a daycare. In the center of the room was a round table, with chairs set all around it. At the center edge of the table was a large chair, which Catra would even go as far as to say it was a throne. Sat in the throne was a plump petite woman, with pink hair and a dress that matched the aesthetic of the business. As the trio entered, she looked up from the papers she had been toying with and quickly rose from her seat. 

“Oh hello! You must be Catra!” The woman who Catra presumed to be Glimmer walked towards them. 

“And _you_ ,” her voice rose as she bent down to face Finn, “You must be Finn. Aren’t you handsome!” She booped Finn on their nose, the young one slightly giggling in response. 

Finn had been strangely quiet since they had entered the daycare. They seemed to be just as in awe as Catra was at the huge, fancy decorations and sparkles. Catra started to feel a spark of hope- the fact that Finn wasn’t screaming or crying was a good sign.

“Okay! Onto business, I presume that you have a job to get to this morning?” Glimmer turned to Catra while gesturing to a play mat by the wall where Catra could place down Finn and the bag. Catra took a seat across from the large chair, and both Glimmer and Bow followed suit.

“I have work in about a half hour, and it’s only about ten minutes away from here so I think the timing will be fine.” Catra said curtly, crossing her arms over her chest. She studied the two other adults in the room, making sure to glance to the side every few seconds to make sure Finn was alright. 

Bow seemed to be a good character, although how he could be so bright and energetic at seven thirty in the morning was beyond her. From what she had seen in the main room, the kids loved him- evidenced by the fact that he had children hanging on him like monkeys. He hadn’t interacted with Finn yet, but Catra decided that the man could be trusted with her kid until proven otherwise.

Catra had yet to see Glimmer interact with any children, other than booping Finn’s nose. This made her a bit suspicious- what if that was all a ploy? What if she actually hated kids and ran the daycare to watch as she made little kids cry all day? No... if this Bow character who was so beloved by children trusted Glimmer as his boss, then Catra had to suck up her fears and give the daycare owner the benefit of the doubt.

“Great!” Glimmer answered, “Do you have any pressing questions about our procedures or the day’s schedule?” She clasped her hands together and Catra was almost sure that glitter somehow released from her skin there. Catra had questions, but the list was so long it would take about three business days to get through it all. She decided that she would do this in the way she was most comfortable- being bossy. She rose from her seat and place her hands on her hips.

“I’m gonna say this one time, and one time _only_ ,” She started, glaring at the two employees. She needed to get her point across, and if she had to block out the tiny Perfuma voice in the back of her head, she would.

“I am putting my child’s life in _your_ hands. Putting Finn’s life in your hands, means I am putting _my_ life in your hands. Finn is everything to me, and if something happens to them… you will have to sleep with one eye open for the rest of your life, you hear me?” She glared at the two adults who sat at the table, expecting to see them affronted or upset at Catra’s behavior. Instead, they sat there quietly, eyes attentive and understanding. Glimmer opened her mouth to speak, but Catra kept going.

“Most importantly… Finn is not a girl, nor are they a boy. I’ve dealt with enough asshole adults in the past two years that I will not hesitate to pull Finn out of here as soon as I hear one insult tossed around about them. I will not allow them to stay somewhere that doesn’t accept their identity and who mistreats them. If you can’t make the effort to support my child, then I will not give you a _cent_ of my paycheck, got it?” And with that, Catra plopped down in her seat with a sense of finality in her movement. Her eyes never left Bow and Glimmer, even when she reached down to grab Finn and place the babbling child on her lap. 

Bow seemed a little pale, but Catra got the sense that it was just an effect of her intimidation. Glimmer, however, was calm and seemingly unaffected by Catra’s behavior. The woman stood up and walked towards Catra, who automatically pulled Finn closer to her chest. But Glimmer just took the seat next to her, placing her hands on her lap, indicating she was in no way trying to enter Catra’s space.

“I understand your concern and frustration, Catra.” Catra’s glare softened at the pure empathy in the woman’s voice. “I cannot even imagine how hard it must be, protecting Finn from the judgement of the real world.

“I would like to promise to you that none of the employees of Bright Moon would ever treat Finn as if they were different from the other children. I make it my number one priority to run this daycare as an open and safe space for the children to have fun and learn, but also to have parents reassured that their children are being cherished just like they are at home. Every employee has up-to-date training in CPR and AED, are aware of all medical conditions and know how to respond to an emergency, and have had weeks of training to deal with all types of children.” As Glimmer continued to speak, the crushing weight on Catra’s back seemed to lessen. 

“We also teach the children about diversity and acceptance as early as possible, so there is no fear of judgemental behavior from the children around Finn.” Glimmer seemed to be finished, as she made eye-contact with Catra.

“Uhm,” A voice popped up from the other side of the table. “I agree with all that… too…” Bow trailed off, scratching the back of his neck with flushed cheeks.

“Thank you Bow.” Glimmer responded, eyes not leaving Catra’s.

That… went astronomically better than Catra had expected. 

She was still _not_ happy about this and would rather have Finn back at Auntie Fuma’s house… but-

Finn burped and startled Catra out of her thoughts.

“Ew, buddy!” Catra lifted Finn up to face her. “What do you say, stinker?” She jostled the baby around a bit, triggering giggles that always make Catra feel like she ate a power up mushroom from Mario (She has really been spending too much time with Kyle). Finn squealed, but gave the response Catra had trained them to do.

“‘Cuse me!” Finn babbled, while reaching out to grab a stray lock of hair that had fallen out of Catra’s messy ponytail. Before the child’s hands reached her hair, and quickly maneuvered Finn back onto her lap- facing an amused looking Glitter, and Bow, who had a love-struck look in his eyes seeing the interaction between the mother and her child.

“Okay. Fine.” Catra sighed, standing up. Glimmer and Bow followed suit.

“Fine?” Bow questioned, and Catra sighed again, before handing Finn to Bow and turning to face Glimmer.

“You convinced me, alright? Just… take care of my kid, alright?” Glimmer’s confused face softened at the tiny plea in Catra’s voice.

“Of course we will, Catra,” Glimmer reached out and placed a gentle hand on Catra’s shoulder. “Finn’s happiness is our number one priority.” 

And with that, Catra grabbed her keys from her belt, and walked to the door, the two daycare employees trailing behind her. She reached the entrance to the playroom and turned around. Finn was looking at her with curious eyes, and Catra stepped forward and took her baby from Bow’s arms. She kissed them on the forehead once, then a second time, and another and another until Finn was squealing from the attack of affection from their mother. Catra squeezed Finn tight to her chest in a hug, and she grinned when Finn automatically reached their arms around her neck to embrace her as well. 

“You’ll behave, right Squirt?” Catra whispered into her child's ear. “You’ll take care of yourself?”

“Yes mumma.” Finn responded, giving her a peck on the cheek. Catra purposefully ignored a manly squeal coming from a few feet away.

“Be kind, be strong, be Finn, right?” Catra chanted, “Can I hear you say it?” Perfuma had suggested positive affirmations in her self-confidence workshop last winter, and Catra had decided to have Finn do something similar. The words were picked at random, but they had come to mean something to Catra. Be kind, something that Catra had never made an effort to do when she was younger. Be strong, something that Catra had been forced to learn through years and years of abuse. Be Finn. Catra knew that Finn would one day grow up to be kind, strong, perseverant, and empathetic. Catra would give her last dying breath up to see Finn grow up to be everything that Catra wasn’t. 

“Be kind, be stwong, be Finn!” The child repeated back to her. Catra gave Finn one last kiss on the forehead before she set them down onto a playmat. She sighed, a large dark hole of sadness filling her chest as she reminded herself she was about to walk away and leave Finn here for multiple hours.

She had to move now or she would never leave. She turned to Bow and Glimmer, giving them a curt nod and a tight smile before turning around and starting to walk towards the entrance of the building. 

Suddenly she heard a familiar wail and her whole body stiffened up. She knew this would happen, but a mom can dream, alright? 

Catra tried to force herself to keep walking, to just leave and not make this harder for everybody. Unfortunately, Catra’s incredibly strong will didn’t seem to hold up when her kid is in the picture.

Catra swiftly turned around, only to see a sniffling Finn lifted up into the arms of an unfamiliar figure. Her back was turned around, but allowing Catra to see blonde hair pulled up into a high ponytail, and the Bright Moon DayCare apron strings tied into an abysmal knot. 

Finn had started to calm down, still sniffling and whining, but no more screaming- which was good news in Catra’s book. She sighed, knowing that this stuff has to happen, she is a parent after all. 

Right as she starts to turn around to head out again, the caretaker who had grabbed Finn turned around, and Catra’s eyes met hers.

Catra’s knees nearly buckled. She could recognize those sharp, blue eyes anywhere. She had grown taller, and grew into her muscles. She still wore her favorite red jacket, which clashed awfully with the pinks and purples of her uniform. She carried Finn with ease, even though they were quite a heavy baby. She was as beautiful as Catra remembered, though she tried her hardest not to.

_Adora_?

As soon as Catra saw the recognition in the blonde’s eyes, she spiralled around and stalked out of the building, now more desperate than ever to get out of the place. Catra did NOT sign up for this shit. She still couldn’t believe her own eyes. At the moment their eyes caught, it felt like they’d never left each other. The action felt so familiar, so comforting… until Catra remembered.

She hadn’t seen Adora in seven years. 

Seven years ago, Adora broke her heart and left her.

Left her alone.

With Weaver.


End file.
